"I remember Rick Perry from that campaign. He was one of a number of Democratic legislators who endorsed my candidacy in 1988, and I was happy to have his support," Gore told USA TODAY on Friday. "I don't know what has happened to him since then."

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"People are free to change their minds in politics. I'll let the voters judge and make their own interpretation of his explanation for his extreme shift in views," Gore added.

Although a PolitiFact inquiry quoted several Gore campaign officials who said Perry’s title would have been honorific at best, Perry has to date not denied that he chaired Gore’s Texas campaign arm, despite taking several questions on the matter.

However, Gore has invoked Perry before as part of his more recent climate advocacy.

During a May speech, Gore criticized Perry for calling for prayers for rain to combat massive wildfires and drought across Texas instead of taking action on climate change.

“The governor called for prayer. And I prayed,” Gore said. “But as was said already, prayer should involve commitment. There is an old African proverb: 'When you pray, move your feet.' We are called upon to make choices, today.”

Perry’s history with Gore, though vague, has been a thorn in the 2012 hopeful’s side.

Just this week, Rep. Ron Paul released an ad slamming Perry as “Al Gore’s Texas cheerleader.”

Perry has previously defended his actions by saying that “this was Al Gore before he invented the Internet and got to be Mr. Global Warming.

Fellow Republican contender Mitt Romney most recently attacked Perry at a debate on Wednesday, saying Texas’s jobs record was because of conditions, such as no state income tax and relatively abundant energy reserves, that Perry inherited.

“Gov. Perry doesn’t believe that he created those things,” Romney said. “If he tried to say that, why, it would be like Al Gore saying he invented the Internet.”

How did Gore feel about the age-old Internet joke?

Gore told USA Today he was “a little surprised."

This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 4:56 p.m. on September 9, 2011.